About the role of adsorption in inorganic and composite membranes

Publication date: June 2019Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, Volume 24Author(s): Anne Julbe, Martin Drobek, André AyralAdsorption phenomena and surface-derived reactions on interfaces are fundamentally important processes in environmental chemistry, energy, catalysis, or materials processing, and play a crucial role in the control of membrane performance. Adsorption of species at the surface of membrane materials has been a vast topic of investigation for decades, with both fundamental impact and direct spin-off in industry. In this minireview, the pivotal role of adsorption for both gas-phase and liquid-phase membrane separations is underlined with a focus on inorganic and composite membrane materials, their design strategies, transport mechanisms and associated performance. A particular attention is dedicated to fouling phenomena and emerging surface treatment methods. Finally the role of adsorption for membrane microstructure characterisation and defect detection is discussed.Graphical abstract
Source: Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering - Category: Chemistry Source Type: research